While checking my granddaughter Xiaoran's homework, I happened to see an essay she'd written called "The Person I Love Most."
I was full of anticipation, but the whole essay praised her grandfather, who only showed up once a year.
[The person I love most is Grandpa. He always wears a sharp suit and is incredibly learned. He often tells me that a person who reads widely will naturally have an elegant air...]
My heart clenched, but I kept reading.
[Unlike that big, clumsy Grandpa, who wears undershirts all day and always smells like an old person. He's always butting into my business, too.]
The last line of the essay stabbed straight into my heart.
[I love my Grandpa. Grandpa on Mom's side takes care of me because he has nothing better to do. Real men don't spend all day hovering around the stove.]
Only then did I realize that everything I'd done had been completely dismissed.
I moved into a retirement home with my pension and started a new life. I would no longer be a "free male nanny."
